Art Objects

The portfolio grouping of "Art Objects" comes from an exploration of mundane items represented in painting or sculpture reproductions. By drawing attention to these objects- a larger narrative is being addressed of arbitrary monetary value that we choose to follow in our everyday lives.

Below are groupings of works where these explorations take place.

"Amazonian Days" exhibited at Art League Houston in 2023. The artwork depicts objects from 2021-2022 that the artist was given while working at an Amazon warehouse. During that year it became an occurrence of hours being cut due to shipping shortages while also giving employees random incentives- mostly in the form of gifts. The gifts, that ranged from treats to food & workwear, were documented when received and later rendered in acrylic on panel. These still lifes hold as placeholders of Amazon exchanging and bartering labor hours with gifts. Other instances of odd labor compensation come to mind for Delgado such as when his family first immigrated to the United States from Mexico- during which, those family members would be compensated less than minimum wage but at the same time given gifts of furniture & appliances. These still life paintings along with paintings of scenes from the warehouse highlight this occurrence of employer to employee gifting dynamic.

After leaving their workplace of 8 years Delgado was left to assess what he had of value and selling some items on eBay. Being back on the auction site he began to look up items that wouldn’t be considered of any value for most but a few individuals; having a very niche demand. From this Delgado chose to start depicting these and related objects in paintings and sculptures to further highlight their duality of both importance and mundaneness- questioning if their image holds any value in of itself. These paintings exhibit these rediscovered ideas of scarcity, selective value, and resourcefulness.